About our group:
At Seagate our mission is to build the world’s best data storage devices. The Advanced Transducer Development group is a global R&D organization that develops new recording head technologies to advance areal density and enable Seagate’s HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 4 year+ product roadmap. Our process team uses state-of-the-art wafer fabrication tools and cleanroom facilities to innovate and deliver leading-edge writers and read sensors. With an emphasis on proving feasibility of new devices, processes, and materials, we help build Seagate’s future time-to-market leadership. If you are excited by innovative technology development, are naturally creative, and passionate about seeing ideas come to life then this could be a perfect fit to your research and development career.
About the role - you will:
- Develop novel, robust, and manufacturable ion-beam etch (IBE) and plasma etch (ICP) processes to achieve critical dimension and geometry targets in nanometer-scale head devices.
- Maintain stability of these wafer processes, including data analysis for statistical process control and investigation of root causes for process excursions
- Manage the configuration, qualification and time-sharing of R&D vacuum etch equipment including coordination of experimental runs.
- Work with design partners to understand requirements for device performance and close gaps between intended and fabricated structures.
- Interface with the wider RD and Product wafer teams (lithography, deposition, CMP, wet process, and integration) to integrate new etch process modules into advanced prototype wafer builds.
- Help assess the impact of new etch processes on downstream head performance to drive process improvements.
- Explore advanced vacuum etching techniques with wafer capital equipment suppliers and research partners to define hardware paths needed for advanced capability and manufacturability.
- Manage experiments, projects, and wafer tracking to deliver results to the designated schedule.
- Participate in technology transfers to the product development engineering team.
- Contribute to Seagate’s IP portfolio in the form of invention disclosures, patents, trade secrets, peer-reviewed journal articles, and/or white papers.
About you:
- You are self-motivated, intellectually curious, able to work independently and have a strong attention to detail.
- You are an honest and respectful team player, capable of working in strong partnership with a diverse global group of engineers and technicians.
- You are a well-organized multitasker, able to balance day-to-day wafer processing needs with longer-term development work.
- You maintain thorough documentation of results and can clearly present and discuss them with other staff members in engineering and management forums.
- You have a track record of innovation and regularly use outside sources (journals, patents, university projects and conferences) to inspire new ideas and directions.
- You are interested in and able to provide technical leadership to junior staff members.
- You are able and eager to work in a mix of clean room and laboratory environments.
Your experience includes:
- Strong hands-on experience and in-depth understanding of plasma sources, ion-surface interactions, surface chemistry, endpoint detection and related vacu